Ginger Pudding with Bananas

Two entries in one day!!! This must mean that 1. I am so dedicated to my blog. 2. Nothing much going on. 3. It is a nasty rainy day. So, like I said in the last blog, I had a crazy cooking day, because it was a nasty rainy day. One of the items I made was a ginger pudding. Had some milk that would turn if I didn't use it. Not many people realize that pudding is pretty easy to make from scratch. It's almost as easy as opening the box of Jello Pudding mix. Really. Pudding is just sugar, cornstarch, milk and flavoring - that's it. What makes this dessert is the add ins. Just a basic vanilla pudding, add crushed gingersnaps (used Mary's gluten free), a bit of ginger paste, chopped pecans and sliced banana. Very yummy. The original recipe had all the ingredients mixed in to the main pudding, but I like the idea of adding the cookies, nuts and bananas right when serving, so everything does not get all mushy. The other advantage is that is some one does not like one of the ingredients - and that is bound to happen- that item can be omitted.
This is a fairly health dessert,

So for the pudding:
1. combine- 1/2 cup sugar, 5 tbsp cornstarch, 1/8 tsp salt. Gradually wisk in 3 cups of skim milk. Heat to about 180 degrees, just below boiling.
2. combine 1 cup skim milk, 2 egg yolks and 2 tsp vanilla. Gradually add to milk mixture. Whisk constantly until it comes to a slow boil. continue cooking for 2 more minutes until the pudding becomes thick. This takes about 20 minutes.
3. Cool in refrigerator with plastic wrap right on top to keep skin from forming.
4. Slice 2 bananas. Turn 12 ginger snaps (gluten free) into crumbs. Chop 1/4 cup pecans.
Mix 1/2 tsp ginger paste into each serving of pudding - 1/2 cup. Stir in 1/2 a sliced banana, 1 tbsp of cookies and 1 tbsp of pecans. top with whipped cream if desired - i found the whipped cream to be overkill.